"We see, in many a land, the proudest dynasties and tyrannies still crushing, with their mountain weight, every free motion of the Consciences and hearts of men. We see, on the other hand, the truest heroism for the right and the greatest devotion to the Truth in hearts that God has touched. We have a work to do, as great as our forefathers and, perhaps, far greater. The enemies of Truth are more numerous and subtle than ever and the needs of the Church are greater than at any preceding time. If we are not debtors to the present, then men were never debtors to their age and their time. Brethren, we are debtors to the hour in which we live. Oh, that we might stamp it with Truth and that God might help us to impress upon its wings some proof that it has not flown by neglected and unheeded." -- C.H. Spurgeon . . . "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:31, 32 . . . . .

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Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Perilous Times

By: A.M. Kisly 

What Lies Ahead for America? 

Genesis 12:1-3 
"Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." 

In a recent article by Jan Markell, 
“President Obama's speech in Cairo was in many aspects a total surrender to Islam and a drastic turn against one of our best allies, Israel.” 
“Because of this one-two punch, America and the rest of the world will never be what it once was. Why? Because Obama is the acknowledged leader of the free world as all American presidents are. And he sent the world of Islam a dramatic message that America wants to be their friend and that America respects Islam -- even though they continue to be at war with us.”

“In his speech in early June in Cairo, there was not a single word about Islam's well-known and checkered past of conquering by the sword. There was no reference to the indoctrination by Islam of her youth to steer them toward violence. There was no reference to the fact that Islamic suicide bombers are blowing themselves up around the world and beheading innocent people. No mention of the "honor killings" against family members who prove to be an embarrassment. And he gave a pass for Muslims to keep stoning their women for various offenses. He also signaled the world that we could go back to a 9/10 mentality.” 
As Bill Koenig states in his weekly e-newsletter, 
"Obama complimented them (Islam) for their religion. Both moderates and radicals heard the speech through the lens of Islam and, they will use it for their benefit to further their religion throughout the world." The speech sent a message to the world that Islam should be respected even though as he was speaking, radicals were likely planning evil deeds. Read the full article here: Why Perilous Times Are Now In Overdrive 
In the light of today’s continuous focus on the middle east, we cannot truly understand the importance of Israel until we understand her history under the scope of the Word of God, and His promises to her. Israel's History and Foreshadowing of End-Time Events (Excerpts taken from Fire Over The Holy Land – Gordon Lindsey) 

The basis of Israel’s claim to Palestine lies in God’s promise to Abraham: 

‘I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession” (Genesis 17:8). Four hundred years after this Moses and Joshua, and the children of Isarel departed from Egypt and took possession of the Promised Land, dispossessing the Canaanites, who had forfeited their rights because of their wickedness (Genesis 15:13-16). 

Just before the children of Israel were to enter the land of Canaan, Moses gave certain promises and warnings to them. They were indeed to take over the land, but their continued possession of it was conditional upon their obedience to God’s law. 

 There were certain promises of blessing if the people were obedient. On the other hand, if they were disobedient and turned from their God, many evil things would happen to them.

 They would suffer through droughts and famine, plagues and disease and their enemies would overcome them, and take them into captivity. We all know the history here, over the next centuries since this prophecy was given, the Old Testament reveals Israel’s early prosperity, her apostacies, her chastisement and her decline as a nation. 

For seventy years Israel ceased to be a nation. Afterward a portion of the people return to Palestine, and there rebuilt their temple as well as the city of Jerusalem. Several centuries later, Jesus, the Messiah came as was foretold in the the books of the Old Testament. As history declarers, He was rejected and crucified obviously not by everyone, but as a nation in whole. 

Before His crucifixion, Jesus spoke of the coming judgement that would come on the nation of Israel because of her rejection of Him. 

 “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh...And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” (Luke 21:20, 24). 

And so it was . . . In A.D. 70 Jerusalem was besieged by the armies of Titus. The city was taken and burned. The people were dispersed to all parts of the world. 
Centuries later, Rome held a heavy hand over Palestine. 

 The Jews except in small numbers, were not permitted to return to their native land. The Roman Empire which had so persecuted Israel, began to erode from within and eventually after repeated battles with the barbarians from the north, the Empire was taken. 

It has been said that Rome received double what she had meted out. Then in 637, the sword of Islam took Jerusalem. Not long after the Arabs began building the Mosque of Omar on the old temple site. 

 Through the coming years many invasions of Palestine would take place by various Gentile nations. The Crusaders fought and slaughtered their way to Jerusalem, which they captured and held for 87 years until defeated by Saladin, one of the most famous rulers of Islam. A century later the Muslims gained control again. 

From 1250 to 1517 Egypt rules Palestine. In 1517 the Turks capture and rule Palestine for 400 years. Robert Donovan in Israel’s Fight for Survival says: 
 “Scattered over the world, Jews have continued to look upon it as the Promised Land. A yearning for its rebirth as a Jewish state has remained eternally a part of the Jewish soul, never forgotten in song or prayer. All through the vicissitudes of conquest and empire, the few Jews who lived there helped keep alive the ancient claim of Abraham. But more significant, the Jew, wherever fate may have taken him, thought of Palestine as his ancestral home and never relinquished the sentimental claim that it was his.” 
 Not all is lost. There is and has always been a reason for the hope of the scattered Jewish peoples. Yes, judgment fell upon the nation because of her disobedience, but in the last days, a regathering of Israel back to the promised land has been foretold and promised in the very same Scriptures. 

And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country” (Ezekiel 34:13). 

For behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown: And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and wastes shall be builded” (Ezekiel 36:9-10). 

Thus saith the Lord God: In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden: and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced and are inhabitedEzekiel 36:33-35). 

The national resurrection of Israel is plainly taught in Ezekiel 37:1-14 in the parable of the Valley of Dry Bones. The prophecy foretold that when Israel’s hopes reached the lowest ebb, the nation would rise out of its grave, and God would give it new life. And so it was…

At the turn of the century, the Jews had their opportunity to return to the promised land. In 1897 the first Jewish Congress was held in Geneva. There was increasing persecutions and anti-Semitism in Europe and the Jews began emigrating back to their home land. 

Not until World War I was there a real significant step towards this return. Chaim Weizmann was a Jewish chemist working for the British government. He discovered a way to process large quantities of acetone which was indispensable in the production of explosives. In payment so to speak, Lord Balfour wrote Baron Edmond de Rothschild, (a financier of numerous Jewish agricultural communities) saying: 

 “His Majesty’s government views with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.” This was called the Balfour Declaration and became the key document of the Jewish people’s claim to Palestine. And so it was…

The Arabs were sympathetic to the idea of a Jewish national home. In fact Dr. Weizmann signed a pact with Emir Faisal, who ruled what is now the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This pact declared that all necessary measures be taken “to encourage and stimulate the immigration of Jews into Palestine on a large scale and as quickly as possible and to settle Jewish immigrants upon the land.” 

The League of Nations implemented the pact by giving Britain the Palestinian Mandate, and charged that they carry out the intent and purpose of the Balfour Declaration. However, Arab leaders who were for a short time sympathetic to the Jews were now growing in frustration because of their own ambitions. 

 The Mufti of Jerusalem (spiritual leader to the Arabs) contributed much of the bitter conflict that had arose. Interestingly, he defected to the Nazis during World War II, as a Hitler sympathizer to exterminate the Jews. 

The Holy Land soon became a place of unrest, increasing riots and many being killed. As these clashes increased the British began to fear the wrath of the Arabs, issued a paper refuting the promises of the Balfour Declaration. This included a sharp limitation of Jewish immigration to Palestine. 

 Obviously the Jews being stunned by the actions of the British government became very angry. The Balfour Declaration was written in favor of the Jews during World War I, when they published the White Paper the full fury of World War II had begun turning the tide once again.

 While the Arabs sided with the Nazis, the Jews mobilized their full strength for the Allied cause. Again, with the war won, the Jews had hoped to be rewarded for their loyalty, by overturning the White Papers in support of the Jews reclaiming their land. 

The British government did not come through. They clamped down on the numbers of those immigrating to 1500 a month and the hundreds of thousands of survivors of Hitler's annihilation would languish in refugee camps in Europe. 

The Jews had taken on a new boldness during the survival of this evil war and began their fight for freedom and the right to exist as a nation. The British government turns the problem over to the U.N. who in turn proposed to divide Palestine into separate Arab and Jewish states. 

 Of course, the Arabs rejected this proposal and as a result a vicious warfare began between the Arabs and the Jews. The British government, unable to control the increasing war, pulled out of Israel. The Jews in turn said that when they did they would declare themselves in independent nation. And so it was…

At midnight May 14, 1948, Israel, after 1900 years of dispersion became an independent nation. Eleven minutes later, President Truman recognized the new government. On May 17, Russia extended their recognition as well. 
 A few hours later the Arabs struck. 

The powerful well trained legion overpowered the defenders of the Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem, but the Jews held the high ground in the hills. GOD WAS WITH THEM! In four weeks a truce was effected and broken by the Egyptians. 

 Israel launched ‘Operation Ten Plagues’ to drive the Egyptians back into Sinai. The effect of this campaign confounded the Egyptians and the advance halted after an appeal of restraint was made by President Truman to Ben-Gurion. 

The victory cost Israel 5,000 lives, but the new nation was established. This victory produced a horrible result upon the 800,000 refugees who upon the urging of the Arab leaders fled from their homes. 

 The Arabs had been promised that the Jews would be destroyed and that they could soon return to their homes. Unfortunately, for them, the war did not turn out in their favor. Most of those who fled are to the present day still in refugee camps

 Arab leaders have refused every effort made by the U.N. to resettle them. 
Once the armistice was signed, the gates of Israel were thrown open to the Jewish immigrants of all nations. The poured into the land by the hundreds of thousands and Israel began to settle in their new nation. 

The Arabs, as we know, have never accepted the Jewish state, and to this day there have been many killed in the ongoing battle over this tiny piece of land. That’s the history, and we must understand it so that we can understand what is happening today and what is in store for the future. 

Finally, God promised that He would "curse them that curse you." The precision with which God kept this promise is nothing less than astonishing. God's Word is true, and Bible prophecy is always 100 percent accurate. Jesus said that before He returned, ALL Bible prophecy would be fulfilled – to the tiniest "jot and tittle" – (the two most insignificant characters in the Hebrew alphabet). 

In tracing Israel's history from Babylon to the present, we see the incredible detail with which God keeps His Word. Although America continues to be Israel's principle protector, and continues to enjoy the concomitant blessings that come with it, America's good fortunes began to wane about the same time the White House forced Israel into the Oslo Agreement. 

The "land for peace" formula called for Israel to give up some of the land of Promise in exchange for peace. In other words, it was a form of blackmail whose terms were drawn up in Washington and forced upon Israel for the express purpose of undoing what God had already done, including dividing Jerusalem and taking part of it from the Jews. 

"And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it" (Zechariah 12:3). 

People can certainly deny any biblical connection, but the hard reality marches on with the growing shadow now falling across global society. Now it is America's turn to discover just how serious God was about the whole "blessing and cursing" thing. 

And by the time circumstances force America to recognize the danger it faces, it will be too late to do anything to affect the outcome. 

"So shall My Word be that goeth forth out of My Mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it " (Isaiah 55:11). 

Though America has been Israel's closest friend and ally, It is clear that America is taking a new direction or “change” as our president puts it, with one of its best allies, Israel. The president is now focusing on his Islamic-friendly agenda and Israel is being left alone to defend herself. 

 I think it’s important to keep reminding ourselves that the Scripture gives clear warning to those that will curse Israel, 

And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). 

Though the world turn against her, God is with her still! You see, nothing can thwart the promise of God. In President Obama’s speech in Cairo, there is a clear disconnect with reality. How does one equate the Holocaust horror with Palestinian rights and alleged mistreatment?
Isn’t the Palestinian leadership the root of Palestinian suffering?

 History declares God’s promise. History reveals the truth about Israel. Israel is a sovereign nation protected by God and by the standards we claim as a nation. I wonder what American’s will say when a foreign country begins to divide up our great nation. 

I wonder what Americans will do when foreign powers begin to dictate to us that we no longer have the right to defend ourselves against the tyranny of our enemies. I wonder what America will do when faced with the same alternatives? 

History is clear about who is directly responsible for the displaced refugees in that region. It is in fact the Arabs who have refused time and again throughout history, the resettling of their own people when Israel became a nation. 

Israel is receiving a clear signal from the White House that she is no longer in our interest, her welfare is no longer our priority and that the new focus of our foreign policy is to be friends with the Arab/Muslim world, her enemies and ours. How is this even possible? How does one become friends with someone who wants to destroy them? 

In a conversation I had with my 13 year old niece about this topic, she said that it sounded like a good idea politically, (to be friends with the people that would kill you) and maybe there would be a peaceful solution in favor of both nations. 

 Most would agree with her. I would agree with her from a worldly point of view. All sounds great. After all we can’t have world peace with this constant battle going on in the Middle East.

Here’s the problem: Say you have a next door neighbor who is a known serial killer. This neighbor hates you, hates your Christian values, hates your house, your family, your Jewish friends. You don’t really know why, you’ve never even had a conversation with the person. 

 All you are aware of is his undying hatred for you and his threat of killing you. Your neighbor has a family. You never see his wife, she has no rights or freedom, in fact she is rarely seen in public. You observe him as he trains his kids in the back yard with violence and weapons. 

You can hear the constant threats being hurled towards you from your neighbor’s driveway. Kill them! Kill them! He carries weapons that can destroy you, your loved ones, your home. 
He throws rocks at your kids, he shoots bullets at your house and blows up your mailbox. Your family is terrified. You are terrified. 

 You will defend yourself, you family and your home. You run to your “friends” those that have the power to do something for you. Your “friends” tell you that it would be in your best interest and theirs, to move out and give up your home for the peace of the neighborhood. 

 In fact in light of the circumstances they think it would be better to force you to give up your rights, your freedom, your land for the greater good. Then those in power and authority tell you that these neighbors of yours are their new found friends, that your relationship is hanging in the balance unless and until you comply with the new standards of the neighborhood; and future protection is highly unlikely. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not talking about individual Arab/Muslims or all of the Arab/Muslims for that matter, I am talking about known terrorist nations. The regimes that govern these countries are far from peace, liberty, love, and compassion. 

 They do not adhere to the values of truth, integrity, and freedom for all. These are terrorist nations, with terrorist regimes who have their own ‘values’ or lack thereof, and more importantly their own evil plot to fulfill these wicked agendas. 

For those who are falling for the deception that reaching out in blind faith to our Islamic terrorist neighbors will somehow bring about “world peace & prosperity” is just plain stupid. ‘And since we've turned on Israel, will God remain our Homeland Security Director?” 

And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Genesis 12:3 I wonder what lies ahead for America?


  

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